Protection
by Socially Awkward Oreo Monster
Summary: They came across each other late at night on the highway and that was the event that marked the start of a very unlikely friendship. She swore she'd protect him with everything she had and he swore he'd repay her for her kindness uck together on a crazy journey they get to know each other and make a promise stronger than vibranium itself,"Its you and me against the world"
1. Chapter 1

He was lost, he was so, so lost.

He was lost physically and he was lost mentally. He was soaking wet, his dark hair dripping onto the dirt. He was severely injured, his right arm clutching his torso as he painfully trekked the forest. To any human in sight, should there had been any, he would've looked like a monster with his tall height, heavily built body and _that shiny metal arm_ and his deathly glare; but he was just a lost man, unsure of his identity and his existence.

Just a few hours prior, he was a man on a mission, he had an aim given to him, he had been given an order, a purpose. It all fell apart when his target, _his mission_ , plunged him into a whirlpool of confusion and doubt by calling him a name that sounded so familiar yet so foreign. His mission, _Steve Rogers,_ had called him _James Buchanen Barnes... Bucky._

 _"You're my mission!" the Asset exclaimed punching the man below him into a red and black pulp. The mission, Captain America looked at him in his beaten daze, eyes locking with his, "Then finish it..." he began weakly, "cause i'm with you till the end of the line..."_

 _'End of the line'. These words were so familiar that it frustrated him. Suddenly, a scene, a memory came to him. He followed a short weak looking man, the same man who was his mission, he called after him by a name, Steve, up a flight of rickety stairs. They had returned from a funeral, that blond man's mother's funeral. He offered to let that scrawny friend of his to stay with him, let him take care of him._ _ **He**_ _had uttered those words that his mission had repeated to him, "I'm with you till the end of the line pal"._

He didn't want to go back to HYDRA, not when his head was hurting with memories that felt like his own yet not at all. They'd punish him if he told them he was remembering... the Winter Soldier was not allowed to remember the past he might have had, they'd put him back on that painful chair and _prep_ him until his mind and will were snatched out of his brain and he'd lose his identity. Then they'd tell his mindless self to do what they wanted. He couldn't have that anymore, he wanted to remember who he was before the Winter Soldier, he wanted to know whether that Steve Rogers was telling the truth about him. _He wanted to know!_

 _He watched 'Steve' fall into the river with the debris, unconscious. The Asset was supposed to be satisfied that he had completed his mission but as he hung from the beam, holding on and looking down at the man's descending body about to drown, panic and fear and worry rose within him. He had never felt such emotions, ever. A voice in his head screamed at him to save that guy, to not let him die. It screamed, yelled, begged his body to jump after him and grab him. It kept telling him how important that man was to him, he didn't know how, it never told him that, just 'Steve' must be saved. So he let go of the beam he was clutching and dove in after the guy reaching out to him with his metal arm and dragging him up towards the river bank. He looked down at him and gently let go of the straps of his uniform he was clutching. Looking around and then back at the unconscious body he turned around and limped away, soaking wet himself. The voice told him to stay but he just walked ahead._

For days he wandered, staying in the forest, out of human sight, dragging his feet through the dirt. He was dirty and hungry and tired and _scared._ Somewhere along the woods he had found a mud covered hoodie jacket and he had put it on, ignoring the smell of dirt and decay, it covered his metal arm and his leather armour. He proceeded to walk out of the forest and along the highway, looking like a dirty hitch-hiker than a deadly assassin. He walked along the highway for days, stopping shortly for a small rest, no car or truck stopped for him. He was reduced to a wobbling mess, his combat boots clad feet were sour and aching, his food and water deprived body slowly deteriorating. It was dark and cold and he was just about to collapse to his knees, a set of headlights were headed towards him. _Another car,_ he thought _._ He knew it was going to ignore him and move along like the rest but to his surprise it stopped right before him and the window rolled down. It was a lone woman who looked at him curiously, her eye colour unrecognisable in the dark. "Headed somewhere?" she asked. He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice didn't come out so he shook his head, he wobbled on his feet, the world around him spinning. "Whoa! Are you okay?" she asked, alarmed. He placed his palm on the top of the woman's car to steady himself, his legs were just about to give away. He looked at the woman again, trying to figure out if she was a danger or not, so far she seemed like a harmless civilian, with good amount of money judging by her slick black car, she looked at him impassively for a moment. "Get in".

* * *

She grumbled as she angrily made her way to her car, _I swear to God I will eat my own fingers before I answer to a house call from him ev_ _er again!_

It was way past sun down and she was not happy with being called to a patients house so far away from where she lived for a false alarm. The man was constipated not going into a cardiac arrest!

Oh yes, she was a doctor. A well known and well respected doctor from Washington DC. She sat in her car and ran a hand through her light- almost blonde- brown hair. She started up her car and drove off, not happy with the idea of driving for an hour or so before she got home. Why was life not easy for her?

She was driving along the highway by the woodland. Immersed so deeply in her own thoughts that she almost did not notice a swaying stranger a few feet out. Her headlights illuminated his figure, a scratchy beard on a dirty face, clothes covered in grime and an obvious limp in his steps as he _dragged_ himself along the road. With a sigh and her taser ready by her side she stopped her car right beside him. By the look on his face he looked surprised that someone had stopped a car for him. She rolled down the passenger side window and leaned forward, looking up at him. "Headed somewhere?" she asked trying to keep her anger over the patient out of her voice. The stranger opened his mouth to speak but closed it and shook his head, he wobbled on his feet causing her eyes to widen in alarm, "Whoa!" she exclaimed, "Are you okay?"

He looked weak and she could clearly tell that he was injured and weak as he put his palm over the top of her car to steady himself. She looked him over, making sure her face did not show any emotion, he did not seem dangerous, just weak. _This is a bad idea, what if he's some sort of a creep? Doesn't seem like it._

She knew she might regret helping out a complete stranger but her instincts as a doctor overpowered her common sense. _Well if he does try something fishy, we could just tase him, kick him out and drive over him._ The voice in her head told her.

"Get in" she said finally. The stranger looked at her surprised but after a while of probably thinking over he opened the door and got in. "Seatbelt." she ordered. Quietly he pulled the seatbelt over himself. She drove in silence for a while. "What's your name?" she asked, still keeping her eyes on the road. The man was silent but then he spoke, his voice was rough because of the lack of use or a throat infection but still sounded so small, "I don't know..."

She glanced at him, eyes reading him over, he was curled up on himself trying to make himself look small like a terrified animal. "I'm Ryan Beckette". It was back to being quite. She looked him over again, his right arm was at a very strange angle and his left hand was clutching his right side. "I'm gonna drive you to a hospital." she told him. He looked at her with wide eyes full of horror, "No!" he exclaimed. Taking off the seatbelt and reaching for the door, to jump out. Ryan hit the brakes in alarm and glared at him as he struggled to open the door, he curled up his left hand into a fist pulling it back to punch the window. Her eyes widened, "Okay! Okay!" she exclaimed. "I'm not taking you to the hospital! Calm down!" she ordered. The man turned to glare at her, "I promise".

She stared at him in disbelief, "Please put on your seatbelt." she told him trying to calm herself down. Slowly, the man did as told but he was sitting up straighter, alert. With a deep resigned exhale she spoke, "You're injured, and judging by how weak you look..." he shot her a glare, "Your injuries are most likely infected. You need medical attention but you don't want to go to a hospital which is suspicious, so here's the thing, I'll look over your injuries and tend to them once we get to my house". The man looked at her surprised, "I'm a doctor." she told him as she started up her car and began driving again. Silence fell over them again as Ryan drove into the city towards her house.

"Thank you".

"You're welcome".

* * *

He looked around, the neighbourhood was posh and the houses were far apart. It was good, it meant people had their privacy. She drove to the very end, a big house farthest from all the others and fenced. "This is where I live." she told him as she drove along the short driveway and parked her car in front of her house. She ushered him up the front steps and led him inside.

The Soldier was smart enough to keep his guard up. He followed her inside, she turned to look at him and frowned, the bright lighting of her hallway showing the cuts and bruises on his face more clearly. He folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the door frame of the front door, trying to keep himself from falling over. He was trying hard not to pass out from the sheer exhaustion but he could feel himself slipping slowly out of consciousness. Everything was turning blurry, the doctor's back was turned to him she was talking to him over her shoulder but she sounded far away and muffled. He tipped forward and fell with a loud thud, moments after, the darkness took over and his mind blanked.

She ushered the stranger in her house, taser still in her pocket and shoulders squared. He leaned against the door frame and she ran her eyes over his form assessing the damage that was visible. She turned her back to him, letting him know to follow her. She talked to him over her shoulder. "Listen, I don't know you, you don't know me." she began. "I'll deal with all your injuries-how did you get them anyway?- give you some meds for the obvious infections you've got and some food and send you on your way. You've got a dislocated shoulder as well and perhaps broken ribs with how you're breathing and a fever i'm guessing, so let's get star-" she was interrupted by a loud thud and she whirled around, taser in hand, she found nothing. She looked down and saw the stranger lying in a heap on her floor. Ryan looked at him blankly and calmly kneeled by his side and checked for pulse, _Still alive, that's good._

She saw it then, blood slowly pooling around his head. She sighed and shook her head, "Great. now he has a concussion." she muttered to herself. "What's next, an infected prosthetic limb?"

* * *

 **Yeah...**

 **I did it.**

 **I wrote a 'Bucky gets found by someone, let's make him as hopelessly OOC as possible' fanfiction... Not that Im intentionally planning on making him _TOO_ OOC but hey! I'm not perfect.**

 **But I felt that I could feel easier writing a story not following the canon plot after the CATWS. Besides... everyone does it!**

 **Why not me?**

 **So I said to myself, "shit. Let's do it!"**

 **And I did!**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 **Review, let me know what you think.**

 **Oh and this is obviously set after CATWS but I'm still pretty unsure whether I'll be taking it towards Captain America: Civil War. We'll see how this story unfolds!**

 **Laters!**


	2. Chapter 2

Ryan calmly stood from her kneeling position and left the unconscious man on the ground in favour of going into her medicine cabinet and taking out the first aid box and a small medical sewing kit. She washed her hands thoroughly, shook them dry and put on a pair of white latex gloves. Gathering the stuff she made her way back to hallway, gently kicking her front door shut and knelt beside him, pushing his heavy body on it's back. Taking out some alcohol swabs she cleaned his cut then using another bunch of swabs she applied alcohol to her fingers and the needle and thread and got to work. She neatly stitched his wound, which wasn't as severe as she thought it might have been, making sure her work wouldn't leave any scarring. He was still unconscious. She grunted as she hooked her arms under his arms and tried to haul him up but failed miserably as he was too heavy for her, he almost slipped out of her hold resulting in aggravating his stitches but she manage to gently lay his head on her lap not really caring for staining her white jeans for they were already marred with his blood.

Ryan looked down at the man, she couldn't see much of his facial features with that rough beard on his face but the dark circles under his eyes and grime caked on his face was enough indication that he had suffered quite an ordeal. Gently lifting his head off her lap, the doctor left his form on the floor and made her way to the storage closet in her living room, raking through her belongings she uttered a victorious "aha!" when her fingers curled around the fabric of a sleeping bag. She pulled it out and laid it on the living room floor.

Next, she returned to the passed out man and proceeded the hefty task of dragging his impossibly heavy body to the sleeping bag. Once he was laying on it with Ryan hunched over him, panting with her hands on her knees, she decided she'd fix his dislocated shoulder next. For that she needed to take that smelly dirty jacket off and so she began un zipping it. She was half way through when the stranger shot up and grabbed her wrist, hard. She winced, "Ouch!"

He glared at her, though slightly cross eyed due to the immense pounding ache in his head, still holding onto her wrist in a vice like grip. She struggled to pull her hand from him but he only tightened his grip, "Let go." she gritted her teeth but tried to keep her face calm, she had dealt with violent patients before and knew exactly how to go about the situation but the pain was almost too much and would've shown on her face had she not had a high threshold for pain. "What are you doing?" he demanded, his voice gruff. "You've got a dislocated shoulder, I need to take your jacket off to put it back and fix whatever other damage you've got under there." she answered, his grip loosened and then he let go, her wrist becoming red and slowly turning a horrid purple.

He unzipped the jacket and shrugged it off missing the shock on the doctor's face on seeing his tactical gear and _that shiny metal arm_. He winced when his arm ached too much, that was enough to get the doctor out of her stupor as she swatted his hand away from the belts and buckles on his suit. He looked at her face to gauge her reaction to his metal arm but her face was impressively impassive and gave away none of her thoughts. With trained precision she undid all the straps and helped him shrug it off, her eyes landing on the scars on his left shoulder where the metal met the skin and the only indication of any emotion he got was a slight narrowing of her eyes. He knew she was thinking, what she was thinking was another story but it made him reel in on himself, turn his gaze away and he wanted nothing more to just get up and run the hell away. He would've ran away if he had any strength at all, his vision was blurry, his head was cloudy, his knees were aching and his feet were sore enough to make _him_ cry.

A million thoughts were going through Ryan's brain. She was afraid her head might explode at this rate.

 _Who the hell is he?_

 _He has a metal prosthetic... that's not even a thing yet!_

 _He has knives in his belt. Is he a killer?_

 _Oh shit, Ryan. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?!_

 _He'll kill me, I've got to call the police or kick him out! Do something, Ryan!_

 _Wasn't a guy with a metal arm mentioned in the news? What did they call him... Ghost? Nah, that's not it._

The doctor let out a shuddering breath as she went to kneel behind the stranger. She placed her hands on his shoulder and arm and yanked backwards, the man let out a startled grunt as he felt the shock of his arm being put back into place.

Just as soon as as that was done, the woman literally threw herself backwards, away from the soldier. Getting back on her feet she stood, her taser pointed towards him. He looked at her face, it was a fake mask of calm but her eyes held sheer fear.

 _It's the knives._ He told himself.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded. "I need your help." Why was he begging?

"Please. I won't hurt you, I promise."

* * *

"Please. I won't hurt you, I promise."

The man was begging. Ryan almost put her weapon down had she been dumb. She glared at him, he looked pretty harmless with his suit off and pushed to the corner, it had all his knives on it. She kicked the black leather gear away from him, taser still in hand. At least now if he decided to attack her, he'd be on the floor before he could get to her. She looked him over again, her green eyes raking his form, he was bruised all over. Ugly purple and yellow stains covered his body but that wasn't what made her feel sorry for him. His eyes, they were heavy but she saw fear and uncertainty in them, with a defeated sigh she lowered her weapon although still clutching it in a death grip. "You're definitely a criminal." she started, the man stiffened, "I don't know what your deal is, but I'm willing to overlook all the danger signs and fix your wounds... not because I feel sorry for you but because I'm a doctor and it's my job to help patients". He was looking at her, swaying a bit but still giving her an unreadable gaze. "Let's both pretend that you're a patient and I'm just a doctor whose going to make you all better. I'll let you stay for tonight and tomorrow I'm gonna go to work, I'll come back, give you cash and clothes and then you leave and we'll both forget each other, Capisce?" the man nodded gently, looking at her wide eyed. Pinching the bridge of her nose she grabbed her supplies and got to work, none of them said a thing. It took a lot of convincing on Ryan's part to inject him with the antibiotic but the man was vary of the needle, she wanted to jam it in his eye. He caved eventually and she inserted the syringe in his skin near the inflamed scars on his left shoulder. The whole ordeal of stitching and cleaning and bandaging took a whole hour and it was already two hours past midnight. The stranger -slasher as Ryan would call him- was lying on the sleeping bag staring up at the ceiling and she was sitting on her couch, elbows on her knees and head in her hands, she was exhausted.

"Listen..." she began, her voice muffled by her hands, she lifted her face off her palms and continued, "I know I asked this before and you said you didn't know but what's your name?"

He was quite as he stared at the ceiling, his eyes taking a distant look.

 _He was hanging on to the side of the train, dangling. His blood had run cold and his legs started to feel numb with fear. The blond guy, Steve reached out for him, "Grab my hand!"_

 _He stretched out, almost touching, but the metal bar gave way and came of the hinges and he fell, a scream ripped out of him as he heard Steve scream out his name, "BUCKY!"_

"Bucky..." he answered her. She smiled, tiredly. "I don't know if that's a real name or one that you just came up with but I'll take it". Ryan stood up, her light green eyes meeting his blue ones, "I know I've told you before but I'm Ryan Beckette".

She was off, climbing the stairs, her footsteps heavy and tired. Bucky heard the door shut and a muffled, "Shit!" which made him jump as he hadn't expected that.

The good doctor, cursed loudly as the door closed behind her. A rational part of her was urging her to call the police but a little part of her, the one which was utterly and blatantly stupid and felt for everything told her to let it be and not call the authorities. Maybe, tomorrow, when he would leave he'd send a prayer for her, she could use some well wishes; _And doesn't God listen, especially, to the hurt?_

* * *

She groaned as the alarm on her phone went off, ringing terribly loud. Slipping out of bed she got ready for her day as she always would. She headed down to the kitchen and stopped in her tracks, heart pounding loudly in her chest

 _There's a killer in my house._

 _I've let a killer stay the night at my house._

 _You're not as smart as you think you are, Ryan._

Tip-toeing back to her room Ryan grabbed her taser from the dresser and then headed downstairs. She entered her kitchen and grabbed a knife. She proceeded to enter the TV room where the said killer was out cold in the sleeping bag. His breathing was even but his forehead was beaded with sweat and his brows were furrowed in a frown, her mind clicked into doctor mode and she deduced that he was probably running a fever. With a defeated sigh, she ate her breakfast, making some for the guest she piled the food-mostly chopped fruits and porridge and orange juice- onto a tray with a few pills that she knew would help him. Quietly, she placed the tray on the table beside his sleeping form, she even placed a note on it hoping that would help him.

She quietly slipped out of her house and drove to work. _If he steals from me, God help me, I will hunt down his scum ass and burn this sucker!_

"Good morning, Doctor Beckette." Jane from the front desk greeted the doctor as she signed in. Ryan smiled, "Good morning to you too". She put the pen down and turned to go to her office, "Ah, Doctor!" Jane called out.

"Yes?"

"The patient is awake".

* * *

 **Hehehehe, chapter two fellas.**

 **Read and review, let me know what you think!**

 **Socially Awkward Oreo Monster out!**


	3. Chapter 3

_"The patient is awake"._

The brunette doctor looked at the receptionist, Jane, who held out the reports in a neat folder. The special patient had finally come to and Ryan was ought to check on them. She took the folder from the receptionist with a smile and headed for the elevator, towards the room.

She walked down the hall until she reached the room, two tall security guards stood outside the door on each side, she flashed her hospital ID and was granted access.

"Well Captain Rogers it seems you have a lot to thank that super serum of yours." she smiled at the two men as she stopped in front of them, "Mr. Wilson".

The dark skinned man nodded at her with a grin, "Doc".

Skimming through the file, she looked up and finally looked at the blond super soldier, "I'm your Doctor, Ryan Beckette. It's good to finally meet you, now that you're awake." the man nodded with a small smile, "Thank you".

She checked the IV like she would for any patient, and checked his blood pressure and his wounds and limbs, all with impressive professionalism.

She was surprised when she was asked to be Captain America's doctor knowing that there were doctors far more experienced than her to take care of such an important person, however, the only reason she was provided was that while many would fawn over him and make him uncomfortable, she'd maintain a professional behaviour given her generally unamused and nonchalant nature. She wanted to take offence to such a statement but it was true and she couldn't change that.

"Well, there's good news. I'll give you a week to recover and you'll be out of here, only if you're careful and leave the avenging to others for a while".

The man chuckled and nodded, she turned towards the other man, "You look out for this one, I know a reckless fellow when I see one." she joked. Sam smirked, "You're not wrong 'bout that. But yeah, I'll keep an eye on him".

With a final smile she turned and headed for the door, it was around the corner with a mini hallway before leading outside, she opened the door ready to head outside.

"It was Bucky, I know it Sam".

She froze.

"Whoever he was before the whole HYDRA fiasco, he's not that guy anymore".

"I can help him".

"You gotta find him first".

Ryan left quickly, walking as fast as she could towards her clinic where her laptop was lying on her desk. Million thoughts ran through her head, was the Bucky in her house the same Bucky Captain America had mentioned?

Was that a coincidence?

Was he just a stranger with the same name but with injuries that he acquired the same day as Captain America? Coincidences like that often occurred, right?

She finally remembered! The news talked about the helicarrier fiasco, the S.H.I.L.D Intel released into public, the mentions of a deadly Assassin, _the Winter Soldier._ Did she have a deadly assassin at her home?

She finally reached her clinic and opened up her laptop, furiously typing into the search engine.

 _Bucky_

Many things popped up, some cartoon characters, some comic book hero and such but nothing related to captain America. She typed in another search.

 _Captain America and Bucky_

The results were so many, they almost gave her a headache. There was a wiki page and she clicked on it. Her eyes widened, _Sergeant James Buchanen Barnes of the 107th, a Howling Commando._ The man was someone she read about in her school textbook. Ryan read ahead, reading that he had died in the war but the picture made her blood run cold. Even though it was black and white, even though he looked neat and clean and had lively eyes, she could not deny that the guy who was passed out in her living room was the same guy. She tried to convince herself that they were two very different men in two very different times with uncanny facial resemblance but even with that crazy beard the stranger in her house had, she could not deny that he was the exact same copy of this 40's _dead_ war hero.

She printed out the picture and the Bio.

 _I just need to confirm. I'm sure I'm insane and I'm slowly turning into a 'conspiracy theory' fanatic._

She rushed out her clinic, laptop in its case hanging from her shoulder, the printed out sheets in her hand. She passed the receptionist who looked at her bewildered.

"Doctor! Your first appointment is in half hour!"

Not stopping at all, nor turning, she called back, "Call in Dr. Andrews! Direct all my appointments to him! He owes me!"

"He's on a leave..."

"Tell him I asked! I have to go, personal emergency!"

And just like that, she was out and heading for her car in record time.

Once seated behind her steering wheel, she took a deep breath and started the engine, she froze, a thought occurring in her head which she hadn't even considered, _Did he leave?_

She did leave him a note, sh hoped he read it.

Only one way to find out.

* * *

He jolted awake, a scream dying in his throat. Every bone in his worn out body ached in protest as he sat up and looked around. Recalling the previous night's events he almost scolded himself. He was not meant to be found by anyone, yet a kind woman had picked him up, she just so happened to be a doctor. She patched him up and allowed him to stay despite figuring out that he was a dangerous person. He couldn't recall anyone showing him such acts of kindness ever, his handlers were all strict and wary around him. No one treated him like a human, he was handled like a weapon: roughly.

The woman's kindness was something new for him, it made his chest hurt, he realised he was crying. Hot tears streaming down his face, he wiped at his eyes and looked down at his wet fingers and frowned, he was a machine not meant to feel.

His eyes landed on the tray of food on the table next to him and he found that he was utterly famished. The food was cold but he was too hungry to care. He scarfed it down, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach which was due to finally eating after not doing so for more than a few days. He finally noticed a piece of paper along with some pills when he reached for the juice, it was the note from the Doctor.

 _Eat. Take a pill and lie down. Wait for me to come back, you've definitely got something serious, I'll have to check._

 _If you're planning on leaving, don't steal anything. I've been nice to you, you be nice to me._

 _P.s, make your exit discreet, my neighbors don't need to know I kept a killer in my home for the night._

Bucky eyed the pills warily, he looked at the note again and slowly reached for one, not knowing what it was and what was it's purpose made his assassin side feel edgy, his weak and lost self told him to trust the doctor and take the medicine, it reasoned that the stranger had been nice to him while treating him yesterday so why would she want to hurt him now. If he died nothing would change, beside he had nothing to live for anyway, he didn't have an identity even, or a place where he belonged. He took the pill.

He stood up, wobbly and aching all over, and grabbed his leather vest. He was ready to leave even though he knew he wouldn't make it far.

Just as he was struggling to put his gear on the front door slammed open, alarming him. The doctor lady came in jogging, looking at him with wide green eyes.

Was she afraid of him?

Was she afraid of something?

Why was she looking at him like that.

His confusion only grew when she uttered those three words.

 _"Please don't go"._

* * *

 **There you have it! chapter three!**

 **I think Bucky is one of the most coolest and inspirational comic book characters that I've ever seen.**

 **I was so glad when the First Avenger Movie came out, I'm a die-hard Bucky fan and to see him in film and the justice that Sebastian Stan did to Bucky's Character was phenomenal!**

 **Read and Review!**

 **Do you like this story?**

 **Should i continue?**

 **Let me know!**

 **Socially Awkward Oreo Monster, Over and Out!**


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